Social Influence

Question 0

Give Myer’s definition of conformity.

Answer 0

A change in behaviour or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure.

Question 1

Define social norms.

Answer 1

Rules of behaviour that are generally considered acceptable in a given situation.

Question 2

Name Kelman’s three types of conformity.

Answer 2

Compliance, identification and internalization

Question 3

Define Complaince

Answer 3

Publicly conforming to the behaviour or view of others in a group but privately maintaining one’s own views.

Question 4

Define Identification.

Answer 4

Adopting the views or behaviours of others both publicly and privately because you value membership of that group.

Question 5

Define Internalisation.

Answer 5

A conversion or true change of private views to match those of the group. These new views become part of your VALUE SYSTEM; they are not dependent on the presence of the group.

Question 6

Explain Deutsch and Gerard’s dual process model (1955).

Answer 6

They outlined TWO types of social influence that lead people to conform: normative and informational social influence.

Question 7

Define normative social influence.

Answer 7

Normative social influence is based on our desire to be liked. We conform for approval and acceptance.

Question 8

Outline Latane’s 1981 social impact theory.

Answer 8

We respond most to normative social influence when the group is very important to us and we spend a lot of time with the group. The size of the group is not significant.

Question 9

Define informational social influence.

Answer 9

Informational social influence is based on our desire to be right. This can be particularly strong when we move from one group to another and experience situational ambiguity - we look to others to see how we should behave and think.

Question 10

As well as situational ambiguity, what other factors can lead to informational social influence?

Answer 10

The presence of experts and emergency situations.

Question 11

Who challenged Deutsch and Gerard’s definitions of conformity and on what grounds?

Answer 11

Insko et al (1983) claimed that normative and informational explanation for conformity should not be seen as separate. They often work together.

Question 12

Outline Sherif’s 1935 study into the emergence of group norms.

Answer 12

Placed participant in a totally dark room in which a STATIONARY point of light appears to move …autokinetic effect.
Asked participants to judge movement of light in number of trials.
When same participants worked in groups of three and had to announce estimation as aloud - their judgements converged.
When first judgements made in a group and then individually - participants continued to give group answer.

Question 13

What did Asch’s 1951 study investigate?

Answer 13

Asch wanted to examine if participants would yield to majority social influence even if incorrect answers were obvious.

Question 14

Outline Asch’s 1951 study.

Answer 14

7 male students looked at 2 cards. The test card showed one vertical line the other cards showed vertical lines of different lengths.
Participants had to call out in turn which of three lines were same length.
All participants but ONE were accomplices who gave unanimous incorrect answers.

Question 15

What were Asch’s findings?

Answer 15

32% conformed to incorrect answers.
74% conformed at least once.
26% never conformed.
Post-experiment interviews revealed that while some said they did not want to be in a minority - others claimed to have seen the line identified as the correct one as the correct answer!

Question 16

Outline any problems with Asch’s study.

Answer 16

All the participants were male college students - so a very limited sample so hard to generalise to wider population.
Took place in 1950s America and McCarthyism - ultra conservative time of political witch hunts for those who did not conform.

Question 17

Where was Asch’s participant placed in the row?

Answer 17

He answered sixth out of seven.

Question 18

In order to assess which features of a situation made it more likely that someone would conform - what variations to his study did Asch add?

Answer 18

1. A non- unanimous majority. Levels dropped to only 5% conformity when this happened.
2. the size of the majority. When the majority dropped to only 2 people, conformity dropped to 12%. Increasing size of majority beyond 3 did not increase conformity as participants could suspect collusion.
3. Losing a partner - if the participant started with a ‘partner’ who gave the correct answers initially but then moved to give the majority answers - conformity levels were 28.5%.
4. Gaining a partner - when a ‘partner’ was gained half way through - conformity fell to 8.7%.
5. The nature of the task - when tasks were made more difficult, levels of conformity increased.
6. Mode of response - if asked to call out answer, conformity levels dropped sharply.

Question 19

Name and outline an extension to Asch’s research.

Answer 19

Crutchfield (1955) found that participants with high scores in intelligence and leadership ability were less likely to conform.
Furman and Duke (1988) looked at how confidence affected conformity. Students studying music or another subject asked to offer opinion on 2 versions of a musical excerpt. Asked for response in group of 3 confederates with unanimous preference. Music students NOT influenced but non-music students significantly affected.

Question 20

Outline a study which suggests that Asch’s findings reflected historical cultural climate of America.

Answer 20

Perrin and Spencer (1980) replicated Asch using British students. Only ONE conforming response in 396 trials!

Question 21

Outline Perrin and Spencer’s 1981 study. Why is it significant?

Answer 21

In 1981 Perrin and Spencer used youths on probation as participants and probation officers as confederates. Demonstrated levels of conformity similar to Asch.
Important because suggests that if perceived costs of not agreeing were high - more would conform.

Question 22

Outline a study which considered possible cultural variations in Asch’s study.

Answer 22

Smith and Bond (1998) meta analysis of 31 studies conducted in different cultures using Asch’s procedures.
Those in COLLECTIVIST cultures demonstrated higher levels of conformity. In such cultures loyalty to the group and group decision- making are preferred to individual decisions.

Question 23

What was Zimbardo’s aim in the Stanford PRison Experiment?

Answer 23

To investigate reported brutality among American prison guards and see if there was a dispositional or situational explanation.

Question 24

What part did the local police place in the Stanford Prison Experiment?

Answer 24

They helped by ‘arresting’ 9 prisoners at their homes without any warning. They were then blindfolded, taken to the prison, stripped, sprayed with disinfectant, give smocks to wear and told to memorise their prison number.

Question 25

How long before Zimbardo’s experiment had to be halted?

Answer 25

Six days

Question 26

What criticisms of Zimbardo’s are made by Banyard?

Answer 26

Zimbardo’s role as prison superintendent could mean he was more responsible for guards behaviour than he will admit.

Question 27

What criticisms of Zimbardo’s have been made by Haslam and Reicher?

Answer 27

Not all the guards were brutal so therefore Zimbardo’s cannot claim that brutality was caused by conformity to social roles.

Question 28

What were Savin’s criticisms of Zimbardo?

Answer 28

Participants were humiliated and Savin claimed the knowledge gained did not justify the means it was acquired.

Question 29

How did Zimbardo counter Savin’s criticisms?

Answer 29

Zimbardo claimed that student participants revealed no lasting negative effects but had learned the important lesson that even the most intelligent and well-intentioned among us can succumb to conformity.

Question 30

Outline Haslam and Reicher’s BBC collaboration in 2002.

Answer 30

They used a set up similar to Zimbardo’s but researchers didn’t act as superintendents. No attempt to mimic a real prison but guards had better food and more resources. All observed unobtrusively for 10 days.

Question 31

What were the findings of Haslam and Reicher’s BBC collaboration?

Answer 31

1. Guards felt awkward about exercising power and became powerless as divided.
2. Prisoners, unhappy about inequalities, supported each other and shared a social identity which allowed them to challenge the guards.
3. A commune of ex-guards and ex-prisoners established which broke down when those who didn’t support commune wanted to reinstate a more tyrannical version of guard/prisoner system!

Question 32

What does Haslam and Reicher’s BBC collaboration suggest?

Answer 32

1. Shared social identity can create social power and be positive,
2. Individuals are not slaves to their social roles.

Question 33

Outline Orlando’s (1973) study and results.

Answer 33

Established a mock psychiatric ward. 29 volunteer staff became ‘patients’ and 22 staff carried out usual role.

1. Very quickly the behaviour of mock patients became indistinguishable from that of real patients.
2. Most ‘patients’ reported feeling tense, anxious, frustrated and feeling a loss of identity. Some tried to escape while others suffered bouts of weeping and depression.
3. Increased staff insight and led to more co-operative way of working with patients.

Question 34

Outline Zimbardo’s response to the abuses of power in Abu Ghraib prison.

Answer 34

He claimed that it was the institution not a few bad guards which created the problem. He called this the Lucifer effect.

Question 35

Milgram claimed that conformity is a normative process. What is meant by this?

Answer 35

It is a basic feature of human interaction.

Question 36

Where did Milgram’s experiment take place?

Answer 36

Yale University.

Question 37

What percentage of participants administered 450 volts?

Answer 37

65%

Question 38

Outline 3 variations to Milgram’s experiment - give results and explain significance.

Answer 38

1. Moved venue to seedy office - obedience levels fell to 47.5%. Prestige of place increased obedience.
2. Learner agreed to participate on condition that ‘you let me out when I say so’ - obedience fell to 40% when limited contract established.
3. Teacher had to force learner’s hand on plate to receive shock - when forced to be directly involved in pain levels fell to 40%.

Question 39

Name and outline the two variations of Milgram’s study which produced the lowest levels of obedience.

Answer 39

1. Teacher given support from two other ‘teachers’ (confederates) who refuse to obey. Obedience levels fell to 10%
2. Experimenter left the room and instructions were given by phone - obedience fell to 20.5%.

Question 40

What variation of Milgram’s study saw obedience levels rise sharply?

Answer 40

When the teacher was paired with an assistant (confederate) who worked the switches and therefore administered volts. Levels of obedience rose to 92.5% if somebody else was doing the dirty work.